Electricity in Hay River and the K’atlodeeche Reserve went out just before midnight on Sunday but was restored within an hour.
Hay River Hub correspondent Margaret McKay, who was temporarily staying on the K’atlodeeche First Nation with friends, said lights and power went out around 11:45 p.m.
“There’s no power in Hay River as we speak,” she said. “That means there is no heat and we have a winter storm still brewing and howling with the wind.
“We are in a snowstorm.”
Town of Hay River councillor Linda Duford confirmed to the Hub late early May 9 that power was out across the municipality.
Town of Hay River Coun. Linda Duford confirmed that the municipality and reserve were experiencing a power outage around midnight on May 9. photo screenshot courtesy of Linda Duford
She said in a Facebook post about the development that the outage added to the community’s flooding setbacks.
“It is -3 C here in Hay River, we are in the middle of a blizzard (with a snowfall warning),” she wrote. “Our river is flooding and now the entire town and K’atlodeeche has lost power.
“It’s scary.”
Several people confirmed the same for their neighbourhoods on Facebook posts around midnight, including April Glaicar on Miron Drive, Heather Hirst at 553, and Jacquie Richards at Mile 5.
The Northwest Territories Power Corporation stated via social media messages that a power line went down between Fort Smith and Fort Resolution, causing an outage across the region.
“Power has been restored in Hay River,” NTPC stated in its post. “The community will be on diesel until our line crew can investigate the transmission line between Fort Smith and Hay River in the morning.”